Although it's low down on the list, the news of coming server merges caught our eye immediately: 'we are actively working on an approach to merge servers, both in Europe and North America.' While this can (and no doubt will) be interpreted as an admission that the population is low on certain servers, it is also indicative of a willngness to do something decisive about the situation, so that the players can have the best experience. That gets points from us.

In addition to explaining Power Points and Kingship, which were announced some time ago but not really mentioned much since, Craig also provides some very interesting new information about the PvP consequence system, which adds more detail and game world immersion than had previously been announced.

The consequence system will not just alter the players' status. It seems there will be whole new settlements in the game world to reflect the existence of a criminal stratum of society:

'As you know the system is meant to bring repercussions for repeated evil behaviour (i.e. killing players outside of your level range), so should you chose to "gank" other players, a whole new gameplay area opens up! For one, it will result in you no longer being welcome in many parts of the game-world, but in its place you will have to rely on a newly arrived network of camps and areas that function with a little more moral ambiguity. This is very true to the essence of the Conan lore, and a change I think many players will find intriguing.

You will be able to access the same services as you can in the "orderly" parts of the world, but you might find your new 'friends' have a price for their services. We felt it was very important to make the system as immersive as possible and not just a purely mechanical system on top of the game-world to support PVP. So to that end, these new camps and NPC's function as a kind of "shady network" for those with more nefarious reputations. Be warned though. It also means that those who hunt for such criminally inclined adversaries might find out where to look for you!'